


Blue Moon

by onlyfools



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: First Dates, Flirting, Humor, M/M, Online Dating, Texting, these tags are shit but my writing isn't ayeee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-06 14:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8755564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyfools/pseuds/onlyfools
Summary: Tyler downloads Tinder and matches with Josh.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the title is by an unreleased troye sivan song. ah yes back at it again with the troye related titles :-) italics is josh talking and normal text is tyler b t w

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Tyler murmurs under his breath, looking down at his phone that now had one new app downloaded: Tinder. Brendon mentioned the app about three million times because he'd been trying to get over his ex that treated him like shit. Tyler was proud, obviously, and after Brendon kept bragging about how many matches he would get on a daily basis, Tyler grew curious. What was so interesting about the app? And of course, what better way to answer that question by actually trying the app out?

Tyler bites his lip, synching his Facebook account onto his Tinder. when it's done, he taps on settings to edit a few things such as his preference to men and women, and the age range from 19 to 23. He then moves on to his bio, probably the hardest thing he's ever come across.

_ poetry and literature is what i do best. _

erase

_ i can rap faster than eminem...maybe _

erase

_ idk why i downloaded this but if you want to get to know me, swipe left. _

erase

_ i'm just your average guy and i make too many dad jokes. _

He hits save and looks through his pictures. Currently his default on Facebook was of him covering his eyes which automatically made his Tinder profile the same thing. He had a few other pictures, too. He decides to change his profile picture to a selfie of him smiling, dimples and crooked teeth showing.

_ Eh, not bad. _

Tyler taps on the home icon and is met by a nineteen year old guy named Jack who has skunk-like hair. His profile picture is him in shades with a shirt that says fuck. His bio states:

_ i'm in a shitty rip off blink-182 band called all time low. but your mom digs us.  _

Tyler chuckles, swiping left. He seemed interesting enough to become a friend.

The college boy starts to swipe right, saying nope to each person that comes up. None were intriguing enough. No offense to them. Some guys had stupid fuckboy vibes and that's not something Tyler was into.

He stumbles upon a girl named Lynn who is nineteen. She has half of her head shaved, her long brown hair reaching slightly over the shoulders. Her appearance is kind of intimidating but she's gorgeous.

_ i’m kinda gay. tinder wont let me change my preference. also in a cvlt. _

Tyler swipes right.

About a minute later, Tyler grows bored and sets his phone down. He should probably do his homework before his roommate Mark comes in and begs him for a rematch in Smash Bros. Tyler was the king of Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Everyone in his floor knew better to challenge him but his roommate always did nonetheless. 

Tyler lives on campus. He shares a room with Mark and across the hall, Melanie and Ashley live there. Next door to them are Brendon and Frank. They all usually hang out when they are not busy. He liked the idea of being independent but when he realized how much of a struggle it really was, Tyler wished he could go back to the good ol' days. Tyler and Mark usually live off of Ramen, seeing as its the cheapest thing to buy at the corner store. $10 for 10 bags of Ramen? What a fucking deal.

The money that Tyler gets every month goes straight to his books and any toiletries he needs. Every now and then his parents send him money but that goes to either his phone bill or new clothes. It sucked being a broke college student. He had tried to get a job but there's only one problem.

How the hell could Tyler get a job if every place required experience? Isn't the point of getting a job to earn that? How would he even do so when no one wants to hire him?

He hears his phone beep and picks it up.

_ You have been liked! Tap to find out who liked you! _

Tyler raises an eyebrow, checking out the notification.

_ Joshua. 19. _

He nearly chokes on his own breath when he sees how Joshua looks like. He has bright red hair, a nose ring on the left side of his nose and not to mention, stretched ears. God, he was hot. His picture is of him sticking out his tongue and doing the Rock-N-Roll sign. Tyler decides to check out his bio.

_ name's actually spooky jim. i like cats, christmas, halloween, and good music. _

Tyler swipes left.

_ You have matched with Joshua! Start a conversation! _

Tyler is about to type a hello when an incoming call interrupts him.

“Yeah?"

"Dude, what the fuck. You made a Tinder and you didn't even tell me?" Tyler rolls his eyes at Brendon’s voice. But before he could even say anything, his best friend talks again. "I know this because you just showed up on my app. If i swipe right, will you kick my ass? You're cute but I think I prefer to suck someone else's dick instead of my best friend's."

 "Brendon!"

 -

A few days pass and Tyler has still not sent a message to Joshua. He doesn't know why or maybe he does. The fear of rejection is at the back of his mind and he really doesn't want to admit it. Brendon bugs him every chance he gets to do something about it. 

_ If you don't send him anything, I will! I'll steal your phone when you're sleeping and send him a dick pic. _

With a soft lip bite, he reaches over to grab his phone on top of his notebooks. 

_ I could use a break from these math problems... _

He taps on the Tinder icon, immediately scrolling to find Joshua on his 'matched' list. 

Hi

_ Sent _

"Oh God. Why did I do that? Why didn't I tell him what's up or how is he doing? What if he doesn't answer because that was such a lame, boring reply and he probably gets it every day? I'm such an idiot ihatemyself," he inhales after realizing he needs to take a deep breath. 

ding 

His phone buzzes and he looks down to read the notification.

_ hey, i'm josh. what's crackalackin _

ding

_ god that was bad _

ding

_ let me start again. _

ding

_ i'm josh. how are you today? :) _

Tyler can’t help but to smile. For some reason, he already feels at ease. 

-

The two hit it off from the start. They found each other interesting and not boring like the rest of the people on Tinder, excluding like, dudes. Tyler would message him every day and Josh would reply instantly. On some days, Josh sends him a cheesy pick up line and Tyler pretends to not know the answer. He replies witty and Josh dies inside.

Tyler grows to like Josh. It’s like he was his other half or at least that’s how he sees him. 

_ so okay, question _

yeah?

_ how come you didn’t sign up for grindr? it’s just for dudes _

LOL i’m pansexual. and yourself?

_ i’m bi. gotta love that pu$$y and d*ck _

dear god what did i just read 

_ you said your parents are christian. i don’t want them to think otherwise if somehow you….i guess…you visit them…idk where i’m going with this. _

i’m going to pretend you said it normally. but you’re right. 

_ anyways. i have another question _

hit me

_ how does a date sound to you? _

Tyler’s eyes grow wide at the question, a blush starting to form on his cheeks. If anyone were to see him now, they would never shut up. 

_ unless _

_ you don’t want to _

_ and if that’s the case _

_ i’m sorry i asked?? i just _

_ really _

_ really like you ty _

_ and i wanna take you somewhere nice… _

_ preferably a comic book shop _

YES 

i mean...

yes i’d love to

i like you, back.

_ cool. how about…fred’s comic book shop near your school? i go there all the time. _

perfect. this friday?

_ at 3. _

at 3.

_ perfect. _

 -

Friday comes sooner than Tyler thinks and he’s freaking out on Mark. Mark wants to laugh at how he’s acting but he knows how much he’s into Josh. So, he lets Tyler rant about everything that comes out of his mouth.

“It’s almost 3 also known as my death. What if he thinks I’m uglier in person?” 

“Impossible. You’re prettier than Brendon.” Mark promises. “ _Don’t tell him I said that._ ”

Tyler laughs. “Got it. Thanks.” he looks down at himself and then at Mark. “Is what I’m wearing okay?”

Mark sighs. “Yes, Tyler. Your mustard hoodie and black skinny jeans look great on you. 

“Thank you. Again. I guess I’ll get going then. I’ll text you the details in our group chat with Bren.”

“Good luck!"

-

** 3:05 **

Tyler gets to the comic book shop, hoping Josh doesn’t think less of him for not arriving on time. It wasn’t his fault that an old lady needed help crossing the street with her thousands of groceries. When he steps inside, he sniffs the store, inhaling the weird, yet satisfying smell of unopened books. The floor is wooden, followed by walls covered in Pop art designs. There’s rows of comic books stands near the window and the rest of the shelves are books with action figures. Two small couches are in the back for people to sit and read if they like. The owner who goes by Pat greets him.

“Looking for anything in particular?”

“Just waiting on a friend.” he replies, walking over to a Batman shelf to let time pass by.

** 3:28 **

Tyler checks his phone over and over. Nothing. Not even a text. He decides to wait.

** 4:03 **

Josh still hasn’t shown up. Tyler grows sad. Pat offers a free issue of any comic he wants, knowing very well he got stood up. Typical. Tyler gets a Deadpool one and sighs while Pat is ringing him up. 

“Thanks for the issue. I’ll come back when I finish to return it—”

“Nonsense! It’s on the house. You should come back so we can discuss it, though. Pete might be around here. We can all chat."

“That sounds lovely.”

 \- 

Tyler doesn’t tell Brendon or Mark. He’s too ashamed. Instead, he sends a message to Josh:

hey thanks for standing me up. real nice <3 

He doesn’t feel guilty for sounding like a douche. Even though that’s totally Josh. He’s the douche. Tyler goes straight to his dorm and works on some dumb five page paper he has to do. At least he’ll have something to work on while he tries to get that pretty boy out of his head.

-

Josh never replies and Tyler decides to move on. He goes back on Tinder and ends up matching with a beautiful blonde named Jenna. She’s funny. Hilarious, to be specific. 

They go on a date to the aquarium because they didn’t want to be cliche and go to a an art museum. By the end of the night, Tyler has a girlfriend and he’s happy.

Tyler improves his grades over time. It’s not like he was bad to start with, he just didn’t have much motivation to be the A+ student his parents wished for. Jenna brought that side of him and he grew to like it a lot. She was everything he wanted in a partner. 

Okay, scratch that.

Almost everything.

There was still a missing void in his heart.

She was no cheesy picky up line master.

Or an incredibly red haired, tattooed boy.

Maybe Josh was his blue moon.


	2. the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler finds out why Josh ditched him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i never thought i was going to write another chapter but i'm really sad so what better way to write my feelings away? pls enjoy!

**Blue Moon**

_noun_

1\. Someone you let go without wanting to. Regret is key.

-

Jenna's moaning and Tyler is about to cum, their bodies pressed against each other, cheeks flushed and drops of sweat are fusing together.

"T-tyler," she cries out.

"I'm close, too." he murmurs, kissing her neck softly.

When they reach their high, Tyler rolls off and removes the used condom, throwing it into the bin.

"I wanna cuddle." Jenna pouts, opening her arms to him.

"Yeah." Tyler nods, crawling back to her and they spoon. She ends up falling asleep; he does not. Instead, he's thinking about his life and what he's actually doing with it. 

-

"Dude, wake up."

Tyler lifts up his head, peaking from one eye and realizes he's not in bed anymore. He's at Fred's comic shop.

That's right. He's working today.

Okay, more like slacking.

"You okay?" Pete asks, raising an eyebrow. "I know it's been slow but you can change the music if you want."

Tyler shakes off the sleepiness, rubbing at his eyes and tunes in to the song that's playing: Asleep by The Smiths. How ironic.

"Nah, it's fine. Just...stressed with finals coming up, you know? Haven't been getting much sleep." Tyler admits quite tiredly and yawns. "You can take your break, I'll take care of whoever comes in."

Pete hums in response, still worried. "You sure? I really don't mind. Patrick's going to be late today..."

"Go call your boyfriend and be cute." Tyler laughs, earning a smack on the shoulder. He rolls his eyes, shooing Pete away and taps on the wooden desk. A bell chimes a few seconds later, signaling that someone is entering the building. With a fake smile he puts on, Tyler glances over at the door, ready to introduce himself, when he swears his heart stops beating.

"Hey, do you have any gore themed books—" 

"Josh?" Tyler breathes, watching Josh's facial expression drop from happiness to shock. 

"T-Tyler?" 

Tyler grips the edge of the counter and scoffs. "What the fuck are you doing here?" 

Josh steps closer, still in disbelief. "W-what...I...look, I'm sorry that I didn't—"

"Fuck you." Tyler spits, shaking his head. "You ditched me and never talked to me again. Now you step inside of the place we were supposed to meet and expect me to be all nice to you? Please leave."

The now pink bubble gum haired boy frowns, rubbing his right tattooed arm up and down. Those tattoos seem new, Tyler notices. "L-listen, Tyler, I didn't know you worked here and I have a really good explanation as to what happened. Please let me explain? We don't even have to become friends but God, I feel so awful for doing that to you."

Tyler sighs with a lick of his lips, unsure what to do. He could let Josh explain and never talk to him again. He owes Tyler this much anyway. Besides, like Josh says, they don't have to be friends. "Fine." he responds, pointing to an isle towards the back. "That's the gore section. We don't have many books since this is a comic shop, but those are requested the most. There's like, zombie type ones, if you're interested or whatever."

Josh smiles. "I suppose you're telling me to grab the book, pay for it and then I get a second chance?"

"Just get your damn book."

-

Tyler honestly hates himself for checking Josh as he's trying to reach for a book at the highest shelf. His ass is fucking perfect and all he wants to do is—

"Can I get some help?" Josh asks, snapping Tyler from his thoughts. 

The tired boy groans, walking over to Josh and grabs the book, pushing it to his chest. "Here."

Josh grunts in pain. "Wow, thanks." 

Tyler scratches his head, now feeling bad. "Hey, I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you working out or something?" he asks, cluelessly.

"Y-yeah you can say that." Josh lies, taking the book and they both head for the register. Tyler is ringing him up while Josh is staring at the glass beneath, checking out some of the stickers that are on sale. "How much are the superhero ones?"

"A dollar each." he pauses. "That'll be $16.58."

Josh nods, pulling out a twenty from his pocket and hands it to Tyler who gives him his change. 

"Do you need a bag? It'll be seven cents."

"Nah I'm good, thanks though." 

"Alright, here's your receipt. You don't get any refunds, so sorry about that." Tyler says, placing the receipt on top of the book. 

"Thanks, Tyler. Um about that explanation..." he begins, biting his lip down.

Tyler rolls his eyes, taking a pen from a cup holder and writes his number on the receipt. "Text me a time and a place. I'll let you know if it's good or not."

-

Brendon nearly flips out when Tyler tells him what happened at Fred's comics but his best friend hands him a cigarette and calms down. "You know me so well." he tells him, taking out his lighter and places the stick of cancer to his lips. After, he blows a smoke and Tyler coughs on purpose. "You're the one who bribed me with this, I'm not moving."

"Whatever." Tyler murmurs, moving away from Brendon and is now sitting on the opposite direction of him. "It's not like Josh is asking me out on a date. I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah but does  _he_ know that?" Brendon runs a hand through his tousled black hair. 

"No. I told him no friendship. I just want...to know what happened. I'm not asking him to marry me, either." 

"Who are you going to marry?" Mark barges in to Tyler's room unannounced and throws himself on Frank's bed. "Am I going to be your best man?"

Brendon scoffs. "As if."

"So there is a wedding?"

"Shut up!" Tyler groans, rubbing his temples, annoyed. "I'm not getting married, you idiot."

"That's too bad. Jenna would look so nice." Mark shrugs, kicking his shoes off. 

"Tyler here met up with Josh. You know, the total asshole who stood him up a few months ago?" Brendon blows another smoke and laughs bitterly. "I don't understand why you want him to give you some bullshit excuse."

Mark frowns, looking over at Tyler in disappointment. "Dude, you were so bummed. I don't think you should."

"But its eating me alive." Tyler sighs dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air. "I need to know."

"Are you going to tell Jenna?" They both ask.

"I'm not sure."

-

Tyler doesn't tell Jenna. He thinks that if he does, there's going to be drama and that's something he wants to avoid for the longest. Josh texts him a few days later, letting him know that he wants to meet at the park near Tyler's school at whatever time works best. Tyler replies with the time and now he's on his way to meet the boy who broke his heart.

It's a sweater weather type of day and he decides to wear a black hoodie with some black skinny jeans. Black is his go-to, especially when it's for a quick get together. To his surprise, Josh is sitting on a bench, white Daisies in hand.

"Josh?" 

Josh stands up, extending his arm towards him with the flowers. "These are for you. White represents forgiveness which is what I hope I will be getting after?"

Tyler's eyes widen and flushes in embarrassment, taking the bouquet. "W-wow. U-um I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to." Josh interrupts, a sad smile on his face. "Let's sit, okay?" They do. Tyler's still looking at the flowers instead of Josh. "You have to know that I didn't mean to ditch you. I...I wasn't exactly out to my parents when I matched with you on Tinder. I come from a very...strict family who believes that the LGBTQ+ community should not exist. My dad found out I was messaging you and about the date." 

"W-what?" Tyler grimaces, now meeting eyes with his. 

"Yeah...he forced me to stop talking to you. And you have to understand I couldn't just sneak out or...or do anything because I got my phone taken away too. I was without my phone for at least a month, maybe. I'm so fucking sorry, Tyler. I really liked you. I wanted to buy you a comic and ask you out for dinner. I had this total, cliche Tumblr date for you planned. I never expected to lose contact with you." his eyes water. "When I got my phone back, I tried contacting you but Tinder told me you uninstalled it. Then I realized I lost what could've been the best relationship ever, who knows?"

Tyler's speechless and he doesn't know what to say. No, he wants to cry. He wants to cry because he wishes that Jenna didn't exist now. He wishes that he could've waited for Josh, even after all these months. 

Josh tries to reach for Tyler's hand and Tyler shrugs it off. "I...I can't. I have a-a g-girlfriend." 

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, Josh. I was just so upset with you ditching me and it took forever to move on. You weren't even my boyfriend but I liked you so damn much that it hurt. I matched with Jenna and yeah..."

Josh coughs, retrieving his hand back. He's being rejected. Fuck. "It's okay!" That's a lie. "I should have known you're taken. Whoever this Jenna girl is...she's lucky. You're a catch, you know that Tyler Joseph?"

Tyler smiles sadly. "So are you, Joshua Dun."

 -

 Tyler somehow pushes Jenna away after the meeting with Josh. He feels guilty for accepting the flowers, for not telling her about Josh, and most importantly, for wishing he was single. He was a terrible person. Mark and Brendon try their best to avoid Jenna for the sake of their friend and yeah, Tyler's thankful to have friends like them. 

**Jenbear <3**:

_Tyler? Are you okay? I miss you._

delivered

_Tyler...you're starting to worry me._

delivered

_Tyler? :'(_

delivered

_Well okay. I'm sorry if I made you upset. I didn't mean to._

delivered

_I'll leave you alone._

read

Tyler shuts everyone out for the next few days, even ignoring Josh's text that asks if they can still be friends because, fuck, Tyler doesn't want to be just his "friend". He's never wanted that. He's always wanted to be more. 

 -

"Talk to me, please?" Brendon's shaking Tyler's shoulder, trying to wake him up. He's not even sleeping, really. How can he when his screwed up head wont let him sleep? 

Suddenly, his phone rings and the screen says 'PETE'. Brendon takes the opportunity to answer and puts it on speaker.

"Uh Tyler, I know it's your day off but there's this really scary guy who mistook me for you and he wants to talk to you about some kid named Josh? I—" _SMACK_. "Hello? Is this Tyler?"

Tyler grunts in response. "Who is this?"

"This is Michael, a friend of Josh's. Listen, you hurt my boy and now I hurt you."

"W-wait what?" Tyler sits up immediately, taking the phone from Brendon and he nearly chokes. "I didn't...I..."

"Stop Michael! I told you it's okay! You didn't have to drag me here or harass this nice man and Tyler!" _Josh._ "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Tyler, if you're listening." 

"Josh." Tyler repeats, out loud this time. "I'll be right there. Give me a few minutes."

There's a dial tone coming from Tyler and Brendon holds him down. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"Let me go, Bren!" Tyler grits his teeth, trying to fight him off. "I need to talk to Josh!"

"For what?! Dude, you need to let him go."

"No! He's upset like me. I...I need to tell him...I need to tell him..."

Brendon lets him go, tilting his head in confusion. "Tell him what?"

"That I still have feelings."

-

To: **Jenbear <3**

Jenna, I'm so sorry that I've ignored you. I'm such a shitty boyfriend and I'm even shittier for what I'm about to tell you. I can't be with you anymore. I'm so sorry. It's not you. It's never been you. It's all me. You can hate me, block me, hit me, I deserve it all. But I don't deserve you and I never did. I really hope you find someone who will make you happy and is not a shitty boyfriend, like I was. 

Tyler's hands are trembling as he's making his way towards Fred's comics and typing the worst break up text in the world. He can't call Jenna and break up with her. She'll start to cry and Tyler might regret the whole thing. Truth is, Jenna made him happy but not entirely. He was missing Josh and for some fucking reason, he's getting a second chance. He's not about to lose him again.

When Tyler barges through the door of his job, he places two hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"Michael, I'll handle this." Josh says from afar, letting Michael from doing something stupid like punching Tyler.

Pete's so confused and he just wants to leave. "You know what? I'm leaving. Tyler, you're closing." he huffs in anger, stomping his feet as he passes by Tyler and throws him the keys that hit his right leg.

Tyler whines, rubbing at the bone and picks up the keys, putting them in his pocket. Josh is now standing in front of him while Michael walks by them too, "accidentally" shoving Tyler to the side. 

"I deserve that." Tyler murmurs, straightening his back and looks at Josh who has a soft expression. "It's nice to see you again..."

"I'm sorry this became a thing. Michael said I was ruining his mood with my sadness and he basically got everything out of me. He's scary as you can tell." Josh giggles. 

"Very." Tyler agrees. "But I'm glad I'm here. I needed to tell you that I still have feelings for you. I've been miserable myself. Ever since you uh, ditched me, I couldn't stop being sad. Jenna helped a lot but she was never you and I was stupid to try and compare her. You had this big effect on me and hell, you still do. I broke up with her just before I came and I," he takes a deep breath. "I want to try again."

Josh's ears perk up, eyes twinkling with happiness. "Y-you're serious? You're going to give me another chance?"

"I'm so serious." Tyler smiles for the first time in a long time. "What do you say, Joshua Dun?"

"I say, you have a deal, Tyler Joseph." Josh smiles back, placing a hand on his cheek, thumb brushing against Tyler's soft, pale skin. "How about we go on a  _real_ date right now?"

Tyler pulls him in for a chaste kiss, both of them flushing. When they pull away, Tyler nods. "I'd love to."

-

**Love**

_noun_

1\. An intense feeling of deep affection.

-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was originally going to make them have sex or at least a hj/bj scene but i realized josh wouldn't be comfortable...if you can figure out the hint i might write the last and final part *maybe*

**Author's Note:**

> maybe this will be a series idk?? but hey check out my tumblr if you like music and youtubers or just want a cool friend !! [clicky here](http://odetojaspar.tumblr.com/)


End file.
